What did the Jerusalem believers in Acts 4-5 believe about Jesus for salvation?
The Jerusalem believers in Acts 4–5 were primarily Jewish believers who trusted that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah. Their salvation rested on His identity—who He was—not yet on His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection, which had not been mentioned.
Les explains that Acts 4 and the opening of Acts 5 describe the Jerusalem assembly, primarily Jewish believers, not Church ground or the body of Christ as the church. Their belief was in the fact that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah. At that point, Les emphasizes, there is no mention of a salvation based on His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection; it is only on who He was. The passage also records their selling lands and houses and laying the proceeds at the apostles’ feet, which Les says is not Church language. He further notes that Ananias and Sapphira in chapter 5 show this is not Church ground, because if it were, no believer would be left on earth.